For Book-Hungry Readers

YAY Organization! // How I use my bullet journal for book blogging

I can be an organization freak.

Just sometimes. Like, in shifts, you know? Monday’s my off day, Tuesday is like 10AM-6PM, Friday is 3PM onwards, etc. This is totally normal, is it not???

This means, I love using planners and things to keep organized! (Also the bookstores, Indigo or Chapters, have such beautiful planners and notebooks and stationary; I AM IN LOVE so basically in addition to the books I walk out with, I usually also have some sort of stationary item. Forgetting the fact that the stuff there are typically quite expensive. Hush.) The problem is, as much as I love staying organized (especially when there are so many things I have to do for uni, etc.) I never find myself being able to stick with those planners for long. They get so repetitive, and I just get bored of using them and they end up sitting on my table unused and just there as eye candy. Totally a good use, in my opinion, but not great for the whole “planning” part of the planner (or my wallet)???

And so I found my solution in the form of bullet journals!! (if you have no idea what bullet journals are about, I recommend checking out that link) This was a pretty recent-ish discovery, and I only actively searched up more about it in April (also spending a whole lot of time looking at others’ gorgeous bullet journals via Youtube and Pinterest #priorities). I loved the freedom it offers, and seeing other spreads and designs (that were all SO GORGEOUS) made me want to try it out for myself! So I went out to Indigo, bought myself a Leuchtturm1917 dotted notebook that was actually made for bullet journaling* and got started! I would list my supplies but literally that’s it plus, like, a black ball pen, Papermate highlighters and a pack of coloured pens I got from Walmart or Staples. (I really really want more fancier supplies (I’ve seen everyone use Tombow pens and such and I WANT. But like money??? #struggles)

Anyway, so I got the notebook, and after hours upon hours of me scrolling through inspiration and beauuuuuuuuutiful spreads, I did finally start and since then I am in LOVE with the whole thing. I love making my spreads even though my handwriting has so many issues and I kind of suck at art?? The whole point is to personalize it so it fits how you want it to be, which is so freeing and exactly what I’m doing. 😉

I just wanted to share what my bullet journal kind of looks like and also talk about how I use my bullet journal for book-and-blog-related things! Because yay for organization and bullet journaling!

*But any notebook can work!! I’d recommend getting a dotted one, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be this one. (This one’s also more expensive than most notebooks! I think it was around 30-ish dollars? I was really unsure if I wanted to get it at first haha but I’m glad I did. But again, any notebook can work perfectly fine!

I’m terrible at actually explaining how the whole system works, but if you click the link for bullet journals here, you’ll be taken to the website and there’s a video you can watch if you’re not sure how the whole thing works! All of these pictures in this post were taken by me, by the way, in case that wasn’t clear ahah which is why they’re super low quality.

That’s just kind of a glance into how April looked like for my journal! I am so not artistic and wanted my April cover to look nice ahah so I decided to go with this printed watercolor-type flower wreath thingy that I found on Freepik, just edited it to have April written on it. Again, can I just say I love how much freedom a bullet journal offers; you can literally do anything, put anything you want. If you can draw, great. If you want to design a graphic online, great. If you don’t want to do anything at all, great. SO MUCH FREEDOM. I love it.

But moving on! My theme for April was very green, very leafy, don’t know what exactly inspired that, but yeah. I do love the designs I have on the side, which were for the weekly/daily logs (to-do lists, basically), the first one has like a wreath thing I found online, and underneath it I just kind of drew a mason jar to decorate the page and fill in the empty space. The second one was on the page I had dedicated for my trip to Toronto! I went with a simple “fun” in the center and tried to make it look artsy by drawing some sort of wreath-but-not-really-a-wreath thingy plus ribbons and hearts and I don’t know. I do like how it turned out though!!

Overall I really liked April’s design but I decided to go with a different style for May:

Okay, not really for the cover because it’s another watercolor flower wreath thingy from Freepik (love that site), except with a blue and purple focus this time! I love those colours together, I think they look super pretty, and bonus! Freepik also had a bouquet sort of thing made of the same flowers and also offers the individual flowers/feathers used in the wreath thing for download as well, and I definitely made use of that later on! (Freepik literally saves me from seeming like a failure at art, guys. SUCCESS.)

Now this is where things are changed up more! (You guys don’t understand how much the freedom of the bullet journal SPEAKS TO ME.) So, there are technically no rules to bullet journaling, but there are a few things that you’re recommended to have, one of the things being a future log. What you see in the above picture, is not my future log (that’s at the start of the journal), but it’s kind of based off the future log?

I love the future log for personal events, schoolwork, birthdays, etc. but I really thought it would be useful, being the bookworm I am, to have a calendar listing all (or at least some/most because all wouldn’t fit haha) the books to be released that I’m looking forward to. I’ve decided I need to get a better blue highlighter, but other than that I really love how this looks and May is SO FILLED with books right now haha. I’m not very artistic, again (*cries*) and I know there are people who could’ve probably made this look much better but it works! ❤

(Also I know most people use black pen to write in their bullet journals, and I do, but I started off with a blue pen for a lot of the titles before realizing a black one would’ve been more visible and appealing. Sorry if you can’t see the titles clearly!)

Again, I am so envious of people with art skills, I’ve seen different variations of this bookshelf idea created by some genius (which I am in love with) and there are some that look AMAZING and like actual bookshelves, but I did think it would look super cute and also kind of give an idea of the books I want to get to this year. I wish I had came across this idea earlier, when I was first setting up my bullet journal so I could put it at the start of my journal, but better late than never! I know I’ll be flipping back to this page A LOT haha.

I love this especially because I have so many books on Goodreads, it’s hard to pinpoint an immediate TBR. I’m a huge mood reader though so it might be possible I don’t read some of these titles at all this year?? But it’s a guide to the books I want to read sometime over the year. (We’re almost at halfway??!) I’ve also left spines empty so I can kind of fill them in as I go! And underneath I just have some space for the list of books read for this month. 🙂 I’m being way too generous with the space I have there, but I guess I could list some of my thoughts if needed? Haha. But I like how these parts look!

Now this is where we get to the BLOG PART! I am actually so excited to use this kind of set up, last month my reading and blog stuff were all on one page and looked very boring to me, so having just a whole page dedicated to blogging things I think will make things so much easier! I hope, anyway. So, just as a comparison, in April I had a calendar that took up half the page that I used as reference for my blogging schedule (You can see it back with the April layout pictures above!) but I realized it took up way more space than it was worth and opted for a small, cute, and concise little calendar for this month that I LOVE. So much more convenient! I haven’t planned out all the days for sure yet, hence only the second* is highlighted, and the rest of the possible dates are circled in pencil, but I’m really happy with how this works out.

*Okay, so funny story; I’m already kind of failing at following my schedule??? These photos were taken wayyyy in advance before I got around to actually writing this post, and I actually did not post this on the second, and instead had posted the day before my theme change! So yeah. White out is a lovely thing.

Right beside it, is the schedule! Again, goes unsaid, planning out what posts will (hopefully) go up on which day. I really love having a schedule for things, but for blogging though I have hardly been able to follow one?? And I really hope this will motivate me to have a more consistent schedule! Or y’all might forget me and we can’t have that. 😉 But really, I do love having a schedule, and I think this seems like a good setup (for now, anyway). I want to figure out what post goes up on which day, and having the calendar right next to it helps with that as well! I guess I’ll see how it works! ALSO this photo is not super great quality, oops. This is why I can’t do Instagram, guys. 😀 Also it reveals all the white out very very much, oopsies. But it still looks okay? I hope? lol.

*Note: Again, yes, I realize my schedule is incorrect!! I took these pictures like, a week ago and back then my plan was to have this posted on Tuesday, not Thursday as it is now haha. I have now changed it but I’m too lazy to take a new picture. 😉

Below it, the last part which I am also super super excited about; the blogosphere! (You guys don’t know how horribly I messed up on writing that oh my gosh. Hence, the who-knows-how-many-layers of white out…) Any posts that I go through my Reader/email that I want to get back to later, list of blogs I discover and want to continue to visit, things like that.* I follow a LOAD of blogs, and am way too unwilling and short on time to go through the ones I actively follow, too, so this is an easier way to just keep a track of who I actively follow (like, comment, etc.), especially when I go blog-hopping!

*I’ve actually already almost filled this part up and May has just started??? OOPS.

Beside that, to the left, there is also the ideas! As you can probably tell, this is basically my blogging brainstorming. I’m not entirely sold on the space I have**, but it looks aesthetically pleasing? It wouldn’t have been as aligned if I made the space for ideas larger, and that would have bothered me to no end (and I also didn’t want to go onto the next page because I like having ideas and schedule on the same page), but I think I’ll be able to adjust! I often have post ideas that I’m not exactly sure when I want to post/write, so this is perfect to make sure I don’t forget them. (Because I kind of have the worst memory ever.)

**Yeah, it’s not working AT ALL. I love how it looks but again, May just started and I pretty much filled up the whole thing. Now I don’t know what to do??!? Do I make a new page for the ideas?? But then the blogging stuff wouldn’t all be together and that would bother me??? STRUGGLES.

Lastly on this page: the stats! I don’t focus on stats very much anymore, but I do like to see follower growth (sadly this is going very slowly for me right now but whelp I’m grateful for the followers I have! <3) from the first day of the month to the last. And also track the total number of posts at the end of the month! (I’m aiming for around 8-10 for May! Let’s do this.)

So that concludes the bookish/bloggish part of my bullet journal! Basically I learned that I have waaaaay too many blogs I like to follow and although (I think, anyway) that this layout looks super aesthetic and cute, I need MORE SPACE, like ALL OF THE SPACE PLEASE. It’s only the fourth and I don’t have enough spaceeeeee #help.

Okay, so, seeing how it is unlikely I’ll be doing another bullet journal post this month, I just wanted to quickly show you guys how some of my personal pages looked, just in case you were interested! As if this post wasn’t already long enough.

Again, I have a mini calendar that I love! I kind of screwed up and put May at the bottom of the calendar instead the top, but that’s okay haha. This page is my monthly future log, that I plan on using for school, appointments, events, things like that! I really love how it looks, it’s similar to my previous pages in terms of the layout and font, etc. Aestheticssssss.

Speaking of aesthetics, remember Freepik and the bonus I was talking about?? Well, I used the bouquet I found that matched my May theme perfectly and I am in love with it, you can see it in the bottom and it was kind of a pain to cut out but so worth it haha. Above it, I just wrote some inspirational things I found on the Internet! I can be SUCH a perfectionist sometimes, so for the first one I wrote out “Strive for progress not perfection” because sometimes progress is the most important thing and I kind of lose focus of that! And because I still had space left over, I just wrote a simple “Focus on happy” which I think looks really cute.

Also, I APOLOGIZE FOR THE HORRIBLE QUALITY!! Oh my gosh. I am horrified but at the same time I have no better pictures and I’m unable to retake the picture (lighting problem) so I’m super sorry omg.

Next page I have my trackers! (First photo is April’s, second is May’s) A common thing for bullet journals is to have a habit tracker. I did have one in April, you can see a part of it in the first photo, but I ended up not using it that much because I hardly succeeded in keeping those habits and it looked so ugly because all it had was one row that was filled and the others were practically empty. *shudder* Didn’t really help me at all to keep those habits, so I ditched it and instead kept my other tracker, the sleep tracker, which you see more in the photo! I LOVED this so much last month, I made a whole line graph thing with highlighters and it was colourful and also showed my sleep habits were very very unhealthy so I decided to include it again this month since it went so successfully!

I also have a TV show tracker for this month! It’s based off of other bullet journals and I thought it would be super handy to have. Most shows I watch are on Netflix and obviously Netflix keeps track, but I thought this would be a fun way to just track which shows I’m watching and what episode when I’m not on Netflix. Because again, Miss Memory Problem here. Also I just like tracking things.Except my habits because I have horrible habits.* Ahem.

I haven’t finished (or started) writing a list of TV shows yet but I do plan on doing that asap! (Feel free to give me some suggestions for TV shows I should start watching!!) And obviously the sleep tracker will be filled as I go. 🙂

*I might have a habit tracker again someday?? If someone manages to convince me with some sort of superpower? Also because I am #rebel (not following the norm of having a habit tracker, you see!! Very rebellious) but also I can be brainwashed into being a follower?? SO WE SHALL SEE.:

Last, but not least I also have this whole week’s spread planned out in advance!! I tried out a new layout this week and I actually love it so much??? I can’t take full credit though haha, it was mostly inspired by Amanda’s May bullet journal video (her bullet journal is actually SO GORGEOUS omg I could look at her spreads all dayyyyy) that I loved. And again, Freepik came to my rescue! It’s the same bouquet thing as before that I used in my month spread, just smaller and more detailed in comparison. It actually looks perfect in the little makeshift sticky note-thing. This photo is really really bad, but in the actual journal itself it does look pretty good, if I do say so myself! Thank god for Freepik.

Aaaaaand, then that’s it, for my pre-planned pages! The next pages will be dedicated to my daily/weekly spreads which I set up either at the start of the week, or as each day goes, depending on how busy I am. (Aka I will also be spending too much time looking for new inspiration and ideas on designing new spreads for the week (#sorrynotsorry), and then getting super jealous over the amazing artsy things of other people…)

So overall, in case you couldn’t tell, I absolutely love bullet journaling! It is such a fun way to stay organized (and also procrastinate, if you’re like me) as well as be productive. (Or feel productive?) You don’t even have to be good at art to do it, there are no rules, nothing. At first I thought I wouldn’t be able to work with the bullet journal system at all, which is why I put it off for so long, but I found that it’s one of the best choices I made! (Apart from the hours I spent on it lollll.) Don’t know how long that’ll last, but. It gives me so much freedom, flexibility, to do what I want, whatever I need and I love that aspect of it. I know I don’t ever have to stick to the same thing either like in a traditional journal or planner and I won’t get bored, which is important for me because that’s what caused me to abandon planners and such in the first place.

HAVE I SOLD BULLET JOURNALS TO YOU YET??

I swear this post isn’t sponsored.

I do understand though why bullet journals aren’t for everyone, they do take time if you’re aiming for the super artsy design, but really they don’t have to be complicated at all and you can even set things up in advance if that’ll help you in saving time. Who knows. Anyway. Whether or not you get a bullet journal (if you don’t have one already, that is) is totally up to you!

Right now though I am really looking forward to putting my pages I’ve set up to use! They were a lot of fun to create (read: caused much pain because #ihavenoskills but in the end they were worth it) and they look decent?? I think?*

*I mean, the photos were very very VERY bad, SO SORRY GUYS. And if you ignore my horrible attempts at fancy writing… I kind of failed multiple times hence white out. Also my pen is terrible and I need to get a better pen that doesn’t make my handwriting seem terrible haha. And I also want washi tape?? Okay I’ll stop rambling about my struggles now. I do like how they turned out, still!

How do you stay organized?? Do you use a bullet journal?? Have I convinced you to use one? (Of course, my persuasive skills are very very good?? *nods*) Do you have a blogging schedule? What do you think of my bullet journal so far? (Again, SO SORRY for the horrible pictures!) Any TV shows to recommend? Thoughts? Literally anything to say at all, I would love to talk to you! ❤

Ahhhhh thank you!! ❤ I’m so glad you think so. Oh you definitely should try it one day when you have time! It can take so much time if you include art and designs, etc. But hopefully someday! *crosses fingers* ❤

OMG, this is gorgeous! 😍 Isn’t Freepik just amazing; I’m so glad I discovered it last month! I feel like it’d be a terrible idea for me to start a bullet journal just for the fact that I’m too much of a perfectionist and if I made one mistake, it’d RUIN me and I’d just never get back to it. And I change my plans too much. And I can’t even think of anything I’d write in it??? But yours is absolutely stunning! ❤️

Ahhh thank you so much Mikaela! ❤ Right? It’s a lifesaver. Oh haha I totally get you, though in that case it could get quite difficult to continue with a bullet journal… 🙈 You could try it out with any notebook you have and see how it works? And there’s also so much flexibility for you to be able to change your plans and still remain organized. 😊 Sorry, I didn’t mean to go on another pro-bullet journal mini-speech haha. 😂 Thank you so much!!

I use a bullet journal too! I used it a lot more when I was in school to keep track of assignments, etc. but I still use it to keep track of my Monthly TBRs! My TBR tracker helps me keep track of when books are being released, what my content ratings are, and whether or not I’ve posted reviews on my blog/Goodreads/Netgalley. It makes life SO MUCH EASIER. I also have a page where I keep book notes, but I don’t use that one as much as I’d like.

YAY for bullet journals!! I love them so much ahah. Oh yes, I’m in uni and I loved using my bullet journal to keep track of stuff like that. Oh that’s great! A bookish tracker, love itttt! Such a good idea and sounds perfect for keeping track of everything!

This is such an amazing post, Analee, and your bullet journal is GOALS. I really think about starting this sometimes but can never find the time or ideas to do so. I have no creative strike when it comes to drawing or lettering or anything so I’ll end up being jealous because I’m not able to have a pretty bullet journal like anyone else has ahahaha. I have a blog post schedule and an insane amount of notes on my cellphone ahha, that’s my organization so far 😛

I love your ‘books to be released’ spread! I may need to steal that for my own.
My bullet journal is the only reason I get anything done. I’d be so lost without it. I don’t use it a lot of keep track of my reading – just books read/rating, review copies to complete, and a monthly blog schedule for quick reference. But I may need to steal some of your ideas.

Thank you!! I’m so glad you like it ahah, I’d love to see yours if you do it! 😊 I know right? It makes me feel so organized and really helps me keep track of everything I need to do. Yeah, for my reading I mostly just log what books I’ve read and what I thought of them, and I also have a little blog schedule I’m loving right now. Go right ahead!! ❤ I would love to see your recreations if you ever do / post them. 😊

I’m going to have to put one together, I suppose. I don’t put a lot about my bujo online because I’m lazy about taking pictures, but I love reading other people’s posts on them.Maybe I’ll do a reading on someday (can’t post my daily pages or anything because of privacy for work).

Oh yes taking the pictures do take so much effort so I relate haha. 😂 It’s why I don’t plan on doing another bullet journal post soon honestly. Oh I get that! Ahah do whatever you feel comfortable with. ❤😊

God this is a great post Analee, and you say you’re jealous of other people’s art skills well I’m really jealous of yours right now. Ever since I heard of bullet journals I’ve been in love with the idea. I just hadn’t managed to get around to doing my own, well your post has convinced me I need to try and get around to it ASAP. I love all the pages you pictured, and I love that creativity of it and that there are no rules. 🙂
I can be a very organisational person as well, and I guess like you bullet journaling speaks to me as well! 😀 ❤
Again great post, and your journal is gorgeous as well! ❤

Ahhh thank you Beth!! That means so much to me. 😭❤❤ Oh yes, I absolutely fell in love with the idea as well when I heard of it! You should definitely start one ahah. It can take time, but it’s one of the best decisions I made!
Oh, I’m so glad you loved my pages! 🙈 The creativity and freedom of the bullet journal are two of the best things of the system and what I love so much. I think you’d really love having a bullet journal in that case, I hope you get a chance soon! ❤ Thank you so much Beth.

That’s all right. 😀 ❤ I’m going to try and get around to it soon, blogging tends to take up a lot of my time but I’m saving some drafts so I can take a bit of a step back and have more free time again! Maybe then’ll be the perfect time to start. 🙂

very time I see bujo posts, pictures, and videos it gets me so inspired to start one myself, but I don’t really know where to start in terms of making spreads, lol. Plus, I have a planner that I’m putting into good use and I’m not ready to adopt another organization method just yet. But yours is absolutely stunning, Analee! I adore your little illustrations to the side. ^.^

That’s what happened to me, honestly! All the time spent on looking at everyone’s beautiful spreads really made me want to try it out haha. For me, I think I started with making my yearly calendar overview, the future log. 😊 But oh, if you have a planner that you use that’s great! Maybe at a later time someday? Haha. Thank you so much, Summer! 💞 They were really fun to draw.

Oh I’m so glad to hear that!! *finally breathes* Oh my gosh that has happened to me so many times. It’s so weird?? WordPress, what are you doing? 😂
I haven’t caught up on your posts yet, but when I blog hop later I will definitely be checking that out! I really want to use a habit tracker but it just didn’t work for me last month haha. YAYYY! Ahah I totally get that, though it’s so farrrrr May! Ahah yesss aesthetics are the besttttt. ❤ Thank you! Oh I know, it bothers me to no end but I also lack another method to fix my mistakes?? Hopefully as I go on I’ll stop making as many haha.
Aww thank you!! 💞 My camera roll is filled with bullet journal pictures now haha.
Ahhhh May you’re so sweet!! Thank you so much. Your name though! I love how short and sweet and springtimey (that’s a word) it is. 😍

And out of curiosity – did you draw the wreath and the flowers in there using pens? The look so perfect! I use washi tape a lot. I would love to draw in mine but there just isn’t enough time in a day to draw AND read lol

If you’re talking about the wreath and flowers for May, that is most definitely a no! I wish I could draw them haha. I printed them off Freepik. 😊 The only designs I really drew were in April haha.
Ooh I really want to get washi tape!! Oh yes, it takes so much time to draw. So little time to do everything!

Oh ok! I was going to say if you don’t think you’re creative it sure looks good lol. So did you print and glue them in? In the pictures it looks so seem less. Whenever I glue things in mine the paper warped so I stopped doing it. I need to find a glue that’s good lol

Yup! Printed and glued them in with a regular glue stick. Ahah it does! For the May page in the actual journal it’s more obvious haha. D Oh I get you, it doesn’t happen as much with smaller designs for me but with bigger ones for sure!

I have a blog journal thingy but it’s literally so boring, there’s like no doodles or graphics in it 😂
I absolutely suck at drawing or making things look cute and I’m too uncreative and lazy to ever start a bullet journal *hides*
But yours looks soooo great! So pretty! And gorgeous 💜 and I love the way you organised things! I’m always amazed when I see other people’s bullet journals, like how can people create such beauty?!????
Anyway 😀
Oh and I agree with Freepik, that site just SAVES ME!!! 😀
Lovely post Analee ❤️

Haha I suck at drawing too oh my gosh! The few successful attempts at art I have literally take SO much time and are based off of other designs… Trust me, if I can do it, you most definitely can haha.
Thank you!! ❤ I'm so glad you loved it. Apart from a few of the spreads, a lot of it was inspired by other people's spreads though so I can't take full credit! That's me all the time oh my gosh. There are such amazing bullet journals out there!! ❤
Aha right? Thank you!!

Ah I can totally relate! My drawings only turn out good if I base them off of other photos/designs! 😀
And you’re welcome! I really hope that one day I’ll have the motivation to start a cute lil bullet journal too 😛 ❤

Every time I see someone’s bullet journal I get all envious. They come out so beautiful! I’ve contemplated starting one, but I have a feeling I’d spend more time making it pretty that doing anything on my do-to list. I stay organized with a blogging planner which I’ve had the last couple of years and I really love it. Very inspiring post!

Oh that’s me allll the time when I’m scrolling through bullet journal pictures online. Right?! They’re all so amazing. Oh yes I struggled with that for a bit to be honest haha. I think I spend too much time on it at times and I don’t end up getting much done, but there are ways to have one and still be productive, I promise! 😂 I’m just not very good at it yet. It’s loads of fun decorating and planning my spreads though haha. Ooh that’s lovely! There are so many great planners out there. It’s great you found a method that works for you. Thank you so much! 💞😊

Thank you for visiting my blog! I absolutely adore your colourful bullet journal. I too tried to decorate my bullet journal but all my efforts made it trashy…. So I am returning to a simplistic way. Nice work!

I think your pages are very pretty!!!!! 🙂
I don’t have dedicated bullet journal but I have bullet journal pages within my crazy journal-scrapbook-art journal-sketchbook book lol
How are the pages in that notebook by the way? I’ve always wanted one cuz I love the idea of the dot grid but I hate thin paper…

Ahhhhh thank you!!! 💞 Ooh nice! It’s so cool to hear of different ways people make use of the same thing. 🙃
Well, I like them quite a lot and I would totally recommend getting a dog grid journal as well, they’re really convenient! But it depends really on what you consider as thin paper ahah. 😅 Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful! I personally don’t think the paper is thin though. 😊

I looove looking at other people’s bullet journals, they look so pretty… And so does yours! I can never maintain a bullet journal, though I do jot down my blog ideas on a notebook. But I cannot spend as much time as people do on those journals…

Ahah I know right?? I spend so much time looking at other bullet journals. Aw thank you! Mine is inspired a lot by other bullet journalists but I’m glad you like it. 😊 Oh yes bullet journals can take a lot of time, depending on the amount of effort you put in haha. I’m guilty of spending too much time on bullet journaling but I do love it! 🙈

Are you kidding?? You are so artsy, oh my God! Look at those cute little designs (not the FreePik ones, the ones you drew!!) and that calligraphy… Girl, you have some skills! I love it 🙂
I never tried bullet journalling but my planner experience is pretty much like yours. I tried some, got bored, etc. So maybe this could be a cool alternative. Thanks for the inspiration! I might go to Pinterest to get some more ideas ^^ Awesome post!

AH THANK YOU!! 😊 They were all inspired by other spreads so I can’t take full credit but I’m SO glad you think so ahah. ❤
Right?? I’ve bought so many based on the gorgeous cover designs but I just get so bored using them. Bullet journal was the perfect alternative for me! I hope you love it if you decide to give it a try. 💞 Thank you!

Oh they’re absolutely wonderful! And, I mean, I’m sure those people took inspiration from elsewhere too. You drew them yourself so they’re your accomplishments 😉 The credit is all yours!
Thanks so much 🙂 I hope so too because I was starting to think I had a problem hahaha

Oh that means so much to me! I’m so glad you think so. ❤ Haha sameeee honestly. So many people were using those beautiful planners and I'm like, I want to but … I get bored too easily?? Fingers crossed for you!

This is seriously so amazing – I wish I had time to do stuff like this but I’m lucky that I can keep a binder and just scribble in the titles and dates of review copies that I have to read, haha. Seriously, though – it looks like you’ve put so much time in to this and like it would be really helpful for organization – it’s simply gorgeous!

Aw thank you, Kelly!! ❤ Oh I so get you, haha having enough time can be so difficult, go you for managing to stay organized with your review copies nonetheless!! Yes, it took a while to set up at first, but it's super fun and does help me with staying organized. Thank you!

Your bujo is very pretty! Though, I’m curious. How much time do you spend decorating it? I like the idea, but I’m worried about wasting time coloring and drawing (especially because I’m a horrible artist. 😜)

Thank you! ❤ Ah, let's see… it really depends, honestly. On a day-to-day basis, I hardly decorate it because I either have my pages pre-planned over the weekend, or simply because the design for the spread is very minimal. Most of the time just goes into me looking for inspiration or experimenting with different handwriting. But it's all up to you! The most time for me was spent at the start of each month, because that's when I took a lot of time setting up my pages. After that you can dedicate as much or as little time as you want! I'm a horrible artist as well so I tend to print out a lot of designs if I want to decorate which doesn't take much time if I know what I'm looking for.

WOW that was super long haha. Bottom line is, it CAN take up a lot of time, but does not HAVE to whatsoever! Even if you don't have too much time to spend on it, there are many ways to still make it look pretty and personalized (if that's what you're going for) and still be practical for your lifestyle. I hope that helps!! ❤ I totally recommend trying it out though, if you're interested don't let the art dissuade you!

Wow. That was quite an explanation. :p But very insightful. Thank you. I have a customized planner I designed and bought recently (it’s Slytherin themed. 😀 ) which will last me through the rest of the year, but perhaps I will look at doing a bujo for 2018. It would be quite a bit cheaper. That’s for sure. 😉

*sheepish smile* I’m glad it isn’t going to waste haha. ❤ OOH sounds awesomeeee (anything Harry Potter will literally be my favourite I approve *nods*) It sounds like a lovely planner!! I hope you enjoy using a bujo if you do end up trying it out in 2018!

Wow, your journal is gorgeous. I only started bullet journalling a few weeks ago, and mine does not look like that at all. I feel inspired to put a bit more effort into it – I really like how you have used the designs from freepik

I LOV WATCHING OTHER PEOPLES BULLET JOURNALS, but sometimes get mad because you guys do it so perfect and I can barely draw. Nice blog (: I just started mine up and was looking for a few relative friends in the book world! I have a Booktube channel too. Also, There is a giveaway currently going on and I will be posting more as soon as I finish editing a few videos.

Hi!! 😄 SAME omg don’t worry I know how you feel. Everyone has such beautiful bullet journals and they make it look so easy! 🙈 I can’t draw either, faking it till I kind of make it at this point haha. Thank you! Oh, I’ll definitely check it out, I’m happy to make new friends! 😊 So nice to meet you, thanks so much for stopping by. ❤

OH MY GOSH THANK YOUUUUU!!! ❤😭😊 YOU’RE SO KIND tysm!
I get youuu haha words are fab too though?? 😄 And it’s not as hard as you think to be artsy don’t worry!! 🙈 Do you like the bullet journal system so far?

AHA ITS TRUE THOUGH, MY BULLET JOURNAL IS NOT ARTSY AT ALL TEACH ME YOUR WAYS
And lol I love Words!
And yes, the system is actually super cool! But I don’t really use it like “dating” or specific months I just have random lists like “Habits I want to break” and 2.3 gazillion things are listed down below xD

I BELIEVE IN YOU JULIANNA. 😂💞💞 My go-to is a) easy doodles and b) multiple failed attempts at cursive writing to mask my inability to do art?? 🙈 Oh and also printing off designs from Google/Freepik is also very very helpful. (That’s not cheating??? IT’S ART. 😂)
Hahaha that’s super cool though! I LOVE LISTS SO. Slightly biased. Honestly though, same. I have too many bad habits 😅

I love your journal! I used to keep track on my reading and habits on excel, but I’ve been using planners for work and travel for years. Last year one of my resolutions was to be more analog, so I started to shift my trackers to my planner (the type I use comes with ample space for bujo purposes) and am hooked. Mine is nowhere near as artsy, though 😀

Thank you!! ❤ Ohh planners can be so great for .. well, planning, and it’s lovely your planner is a sort of bujo hybrid as well! 🙈 Right?? It’s such a great system. Awe haha I’m sure it’s lovely and above all, at least it’s functional and you enjoy it! 🙌💞

I’m not as organised as I would like but I do tend to have a couple of notebooks with all sorts of sketches and ideas randomly mapped out so I can really see the appeal of this – I’m just not organised enough to use it properly. It does look lovely though.
Lynn 😀

[…] and am able to make things with the help of Canva. Most recently I had used a Freepik design for my bullet journal, and simply added the word May in Canva. And I won’t lie, I’m very in loveeeee!! I love […]

Your pictures are NOT that bad! Seriously, they could be a lot worse. Your bullet journal is beautiful! 😀
I have a bullet journal but I don’t follow the system like AT ALL. I like using actual planners so the only thing I use my journal for is like random quote pages and lists of bookish related things. 😛 I would like to add trackers and lots of other things in the future though. 🙂
I am in the process of making a blogging schedule but it’s not going very well so far…Lol. I am still trying to figure out what works since I’ve only had my blog for like four months. 😛

AHHH you have no idea how relieved I am to hear that!! 😊❤ Thank you SO MUCH. Haha random quote pages and bookish related things are the best!! 😆 Trackers are so much fun! I hope you like using them if you do try them out. 😊
Haha I so get you!! Coming up with a schedule can be hard. But, it’s all your choice and you can take as much time as you want/need. 😉 Good luck!! 💞